Detroit News, May 12, 1931. It hadn’t occurred to me before, but jumping from a tall building at this time was an ostentatiously posh way to off yourself. Not until the advent of high-rise public housing projects would the poor have equal access to the annihilating forces of gravity.

Detroit News, April 17, 1931. People don’t seem to commit suicide by jumping out of windows as much as they used to. I wonder why. The Allerton, by the way, is a Chicago landmark and former home to a penthouse-level bar called the Tip Top Tap. The gorgeous and alliterative neon sign for same is still on display, but the bar itself is closed.